[Illustration: Fig. 61. A typical Holloman Balloon Branch recovery crew is shown here with a man known as “The hermit” who assisted them in a balloon recovery northwest of Silver City, N.M. in the 1960s. (_photo collection of Robert Blankenship_)]
[Illustration: Fig. 62. A mule (named Ida) was borrowed from a local rancher when a balloon payload landed in difficult terrain 20 miles north of Wickenburg, Ariz. in October 1966. (_U.S. Air Force photo_)]
[Illustration: Fig. 63. On occasion, Air Force balloon recovery crews rented or borrowed equipment from local residents. This bulldozer was rented for one recovery in the Sacramento mountains west of Roswell. (_photo collection of Robert Blankenship_)]
[Illustration: Fig. 64. Balloon Branch vehicle at roadside café. This M-43 ¾-ton field ambulance, converted by the Holloman Balloon Branch into a communications vehicle, was a common sight in the areas surrounding Roswell during the 1950s and early 1960s. (_photo collection of Ole Jorgeson_)]
[Illustration: Figs. 65 & 66. Examples of unusual payloads flown by Air Force high altitude balloons at Holloman AFB, N.M. (_U.S. Air Force photos_)]
[Illustration: Fig. 67. (_Left_) This U.S. Army communications payload was flown at Holloman AFB, N.M. on September 30, 1976. (_U.S. Army photo_)]
[Illustration: Fig. 68. (_Right_) Payload launched by an Air Force high altitude balloon from Holloman AFB, N. M. on March 20, 1965. This payload was a scientific experiment for The Johns Hopkins University Astrophysics Laboratory. (_U.S. Air Force photo_)]
[Illustration: Fig. 69. High altitude balloon payload launched from Holloman AFB on September 14, 1976. (_U.S. Air Force photo_)]
1.4 Comparison of Witnesses Accounts to U.S. Air Force Activities
Were they aliens or dummies? This question can be answered by comparing witness testimony and the Air Force projects of the 1950s, HIGH DIVE and EXCELSIOR. Both of these projects employed anthropomorphic dummies flown by high altitude balloons and appeared to satisfy the requirements of the previously established research profile:
_a._ An activity that if viewed from a distance would appear unusual.
_b._ An activity for which the exact date was not likely to have been known because many dummies were dropped over a six-year period (1953–1959).